The present study was undertaken to examine the feasibility of circular sawing of granite
with a newly shaped diamond saw blade. Three slots were formed on each side of each segment of the
saw blade. Side-slotted segments and traditional segments were compared under same operating
parameters. Measurements were made of the horizontal and vertical force components and the
consumed power in order to obtain the tangential and normal force components. The surfaces of worn
blade segments were examined by a scanning electron microscope. The consumed powers, normal
and tangential force components for the side-slotted segments were found to be lower than those of
the traditional segments. The position of resultant forces for the side-slotted segments is a little further
away from the bottom of the cutting zone than the traditional segments. SEM observations indicated
that the wear of the side-slotted segments was similar to sawing with traditional segments.